Vehicle.



E. L. & E. W. CLARK.

VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1912.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Wt?" ss as maz 2 E. L. a: E. W. CLARK.

VEHICLE.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 29, 1912.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 UNITE STATES PATEN OFFICE.

nmnnsou L. oumx, OF'LAKEWOOD. OHIO, AND EARL w. cLanK, or SHARON;

.PENNsYLvamA. V

I VEHICLE.

Specificationof Letters laten-t. {Patentefl D 29 1914 Application filed November 29, 1912. Serial No. 784,079.

To cill'whom it may concern.-

Be it known'that we, EMERSON L. CLARK and EARL W. CLARK, citizens of the United" States, and residents, respectively, of Lakewood, in the county of Cuyahoga' and State of Ohio, and Sharon, in the county of Mercer and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a. certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in vehicles, particularly motor driven I trucks, which are utilized in transporting freight or merchandise.

It is a well known fact that in the transportation or moving of merchandise, very often a great amount of time is required in loading and unloading the vehicle. This is true particularly with certain kinds of merchandise, such as household goods which are required to be loaded and unloaded with great care. As a matter of fact, it is frequently the case that of the entire time required in the transportation of merchandise from one locality to the other, by far the greatest proportion of time is used in the loadingvand unloading processes. Consequently, the time consumed in loading and unloading is a very large factor in the cost of-transportation. This is particularly true when motor driven trucks are employed in transporting merchandise, not only because of the large amount of money invested in the truck, but also because in many instances, the truck driver is paid higher wages than those ordinarily engaged in transporting merchandise with vehiclesused prior to the advent of the motor driven truck. It will 'be apparent therefore that 40 if the truck can be ut1li zed, while the merchandise is bein loaded into or unloaded from the truck body, not only is the efficiency of the truck service improved, but if one truck chassis be utilized with a plurality of bodies, in a'manner such that the chassis can be'used in conveying a loaded or unloaded body, while one or more bodies are being loaded and unloaded, the cost of transportation is considerably decreased. The present inventionhas for its object the provision of means whereby the above mentioned desirable desiderata are attained. .More specifically, the invention aims to provide means whereby a truck chassis can 455 the eaeeivel employed with several truck.

and a number of bodies may be bodies, which can be detachably supported onqthe chassis, a body may be disconnected and raisedfrom the chassis, and firmly supported from beneath the body, so that the chassis may be removed from beneath the body and employed 1n connection with one or more other bodies, while the body thus supported independently of the chassis can be loaded wlth merchandise or unloaded. Thus, while one body is being loaded or unloaded, a chassls can be used in conveying either a loaded or'nnloaded body to a point where 1t can receive or be relieved of the load. In fact 1t is possible, with 'our invention, to utilize the chassis to distribute empty bodies at the desired points for loading purposes, placed on the chassis at one time for the purpose of being distributed. Y I

Our invention maybe briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein we have shown two formsof our lnvention, Figure l is a side elevation of a truck showing the body raised and supported from the chassis by one form of our elevating and supporting device, parts being removed. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the lifting jack shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4

is a similar view of the. jack turned 90 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an-end view with the chassis in section, showing a modification by'which two jacks on opposite sides of the truck may be simultaneously operated from one point. Fig. 6 is an end view showing the chassis in section,this view showing a different form of body elevating means, from that illustrated in Fig. 5 and showing the body supported above the chassis. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the chassis with the elevating means of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail viewof a part of the body elevating means shown in Figs. 5 and 6; and

shown in Fig. 7.

Referring now 'tothc drawings, and first to Figs...1 to5, 10 represents the chassisof 1a. motor..truck, and ,11 the body, both the together with means whereby 'Fig. 9 is a sectional plan view .of the parts LL chassis and body being of any suitable construction. The term body is used in its broad sense, and is intended, to cover the body in the form of a platform, or of the other usual and well known ty )es which are adapted to be loaded with an used in the transportation of freight or merchandise.

The principal reguisite for the body .or

' between the seat 10 i rather for the ho y and chassis, so far as our invention is concerned, is that the body should be detachabl connected to the'chassis in a manner such that it can be quickly detached and elevated or lowered onto the chassis and secured thereto for the purpose of transportation. As shown in Fig. 1, the body is adapted to be held a ainst endwise movement on. the chassis by eing lowered and the retaining strip 10, at the rear en of the chassis, and as shown in Fi 2, the body can be held against latera movement on the chassis, and at the'same time can be held a ainst movement vertically relative to the c assis by some quick detachable means, such as swinging bolts 10, which in this case are connected to the body and are adapted to interlock with flange members 10, secured along the sides of;the chassis. We are not intending, however, to illustrate all the details or even the preferred means for detachably securing the body to the chassis. In accordance with our invention, the chassis is adapted to be utilized with a plurality of bodies, and in order that the chassis may be used with the several'bodies, e'achbody is adapted to. be elevated from the chassis and supported from the ground or pavement independently of the chassis, and 111 a manner such that the body is rigidly and sccurely supported so that it can be loaded or unloaded, and also in such a manner that the supporting means will not interfere with the movement of the chassis, while it is being run under or from under the body. In Figs. .1 to 5, the body is adapted to be elevated and supported by lifting jacks 12. To secure the rigid attachment of the jacks to the body, the body is in this case provided along its sides with tapered-socket members 12", each adapted to receive the tapered shank 12 projecting from the movable part of the jack which includes a standard 12, provided witha suitable base 12, and rack teeth 12, adapted to be engaged by a pinion 12, carried'by a pinion shaft-12 havmg an outwardly projectin" squared port-ion, to which-a crank may be attached, a suitable ratchet device 12 normally preventing lowering of the body. The tapered shank 12 is carried by a head 12, which carries the pinion and is adapted to-be lifted or lowered along the standard 12 in the well known manner. Four of these jacks will ordinarily be sufficicnt to support the body, two being arranged along each side thereof.

With' this arrangement, the body can be lifted from the chassis, and securely supported independently thereof, .while merchandise is being placed in or removed from the body; and by reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the jacks do not in any way interfere with the movement of the chassis along beneath the body. If desired, after 7 pling.

i In Figs. 6 to 9, we have shownfa modifica- Q tion possessing certain advantages over the arrangement shown in the preceding figures. In this case, the chassis is provided with body elevating means, which can be operated either by hand or the power of the propelling engine. of our invention,- the chassis is provided along the sides with a pair of shafts 14, ex-' tending lengthwise of the chassis, and each provided with a worm 14 which engages a worm wheel 14, each set of worm and worm wheels being carried by a bracket or head 14, securedv to the chassis. Extending through each of the worm wheels 14 is a vertical shaft 14", threaded as shown, and passing through a correspondingly threaded part of the worm wheel, which is adapted to serve as a nut. Each shaft 14: is provided with a spline which engages a key 14" in the corresponding head or bracket 14, so that as the several worm wheels 14" are turned. the shafts '14 will be elevated or lowered. At the upper ends of the shafts' 14: are enlarged seats 14 which are adapted to engage the bottom of the body. With this arrangement, the body may beelevated either by hand or the power of the engine, as prevlously stated. In order that the elevating mechanism may be operated manually, one of the longitudinally extending shafts 14 is provided with a rearward extension, projecting preferably to or beyond- In carrying out this part 85 rangement, there must be suflicient clearance between the body and chassis for the couf this case, although notnecessarily 'so, vertigreases the chassis, and serve only for body supporting purposes, and not necessarily for elevating purposes. As shown in Fig. 6, the body is supported from the ground or pavement after the said body is elevated by a plurality of supports or legs 18, each ineluding a standard 18 with an enlarged base 18", and an upper part 18 which is in jcally adjustable relative to the standard 18. We prefer the adjustable supporting standard, in order that the body can be supported in a desirable manner, and without the necessity at any time of blocking up one or more of the legs. The parts 18 of the supporting legs are provided with inwardly projecting taperedshanks 18 similar to the shanks 12 of the jacks previously described. These shanks 18 are adapted to be inserted in tapered socket members 18 secured to the lower part of the body along the lower side thereof, as in the modification first described, so as to form rigid or firm connections between the body and legs. With this arrangement, the body is elevated above the chassis so that it is free of the latter, and then the supporting legs or standards are placed in position, after which the body may be lowered by the same mechanism 'which elevated it, until the weight of the body is on the supporting legs. In this instance, as in the first, the body is securely supported, without any danger of the body being thrown over or upset, while it is being loaded or unloaded, and at the same time, the supports while rigidly attached to the body, are out of the path of movement of the truck, which can be moved under or from under the body. It will be seen therefore that our invention is susceptible of considerable modification, the main feature of the invention being the provision of means for elevating the body. and rigidly supporting the body independently of the chassis,

andfr'om -beneath the body, so that the body 16 of the chassis, and sprocket chains 15 4 can be loaded or unloaded, and so as not to interfere with the movement of the chassis to enable it to be taken away from the body, while the latter is supported independently thereof, and used in connection with another body, and so as not to interfere with the movement of the chassis, as it is backed beneath the body, so that the latter can be lowered onto the same.

As will be apparent from the above, it is not essential that the body elevating and body supporting means be incorporated in the same mechanism as is the case with the lifting jacks which both elevate and support the body after it is elevated, but the elevating mechanism may be and in some instances is preferably. independent of the supporting means, in which case, the elevating mechanism is preferably carried by means for elevating and supporting the body from beneath the same and independently of the frame, comprising a plurality of supports, each of said supports being ad ustable in the direction of, its length, and coiiperating means on said body and supports for forming temporary rigid connections between the body and supports.

2. In combination, a vehicle comprising a frame provided with running gear, abody adapted to be supported by the frame and detachable therefrom, with portable means for elevating the body above the frame and for supporting the body from beneath the same and independently of said frame, comprising a plurality of independent legs, each of said legs being adjustable in the direction of its length, and cotiperating means at spaced points on the body and on the said legs for forming temporary rigid connections between the body and legs, whereby the body may be firmly supported for loading and unloading purposes independently of the frame and running gear.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto aihx our signatures in the presence of two wit- A. J. Henson, A. F. Kwxs. 

